


A Doll for Kyoko

by makot0naegi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Absent Parents, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Birthday, Birthday Presents, Crying, Daddy Issues, Dolls, Family, Family Feels, Fuhito is highkey actually pretty abusive, Gift Giving, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lots of Crying, Shelter Project, dead mother - Freeform, single parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 06:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16213418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makot0naegi/pseuds/makot0naegi
Summary: Eleven years since the day he had picked it up in the shop. Back when Kyoko was still small, back when Koichi was still around, back when Fuhito had a sliver of good left in him, back when Kazuko was still alive…It was hard to believe it had been that long. Still, when each thought entered his mind… well, it stung in him in ways he couldn’t describe. It was hard to even stare at that plump raven-haired doll, her being still completely untouched by age. Even in the face of Kyoko’s forced abandonment, and the world’s greatest tragedy, she still held the same charm she’d displayed when Jin had first laid eyes on her. If he hadn’t known any better, he would not have believed that time had even passed at all.-A story in which Jin finally gets the courage to confront his daughter.





	A Doll for Kyoko

It had been eleven years since he had first laid eyes on that doll.

He could still remember the day vividly. Standing in the boutique, his best friend at his side, he found the perfect gift for his seven year old daughter. 

“It’s the perfect doll for the perfect little girl,” He had remembered musing, holding the chubby plush girl out so that his friend could see it. He could still recall the soft chuckle his friend had let out as he took the plush in to his own hands, admiring the softness of the fabric. “Doesn’t it seem like the kind of thing that she’d just love?”

“I wish I could say, Jin,” The other party had responded, running his thumb along the stitching as if this would somehow tell him how sturdy it was. “I don’t know as much about little girl’s toys as you do. I’d like to think that the little lady would appreciate it, though. Dolls are all the rage when girls are seven, right?”

“That’s what Kazuko seems to think.” Jin answered, letting out an involuntary sigh at the mention of his wife. While he really had been trying to keep his head up lately, there was no denying what a strain this ailment was putting on him. Missing his young daughter and constantly fretting over his wife… well, it didn’t really seem to do him a world of good. Even so, there was no part of him that would stop doing either of those things. The love he felt for both of them was just too strong to be trumped by something as simple as a little bit of stress. If living in his father’s emotionally manipulative household had told him anything, it was that he was resilient. If he really put his mind to it, he could keep on smiling and working hard for as long as he needed to. “She was the one who told me that I should come here. She said this is the first place she would have gone to pick up a gift for Kyoko… She seemed kind of sad that she couldn’t join us.”

“I can imagine,” His best friend grunted, pushing a hand through his long blond hair. “Speakin’ of Kazuko, though… how’s she doin’? Is she getting any better?”

The sting of having to provide a negative answer jabbed Jin long before the words had even had the opportunity to leave his mouth. 

“No, I’m afraid not… it almost seems as if… she’s getting worse.” He choked out, biting down hard on his lip as if to keep it from quivering. Despite his stoicism, the truth of the matter was that even men like Jin had their soft spots… and Jin’s wife, Kazuko, had always been one of them. The thought of her deteriorating health was enough to eat him up inside no matter where he was. “Yesterday, when I went to see her, she was so fragile and pale… like a ghost, almost.”

“As pale as her hair?” The other party questioned, his voice wrought with worry. Solemnly, Jin’s eyes dropped to the floor as he thought of his wife in her days of health. 

Kazuko, being of half-Japanese half-German descent, had somehow managed to obtain none of the darkness of her father’s hair colour. Instead, she donned the most striking platinum blonde that Jin had ever laid his eyes on. It had been so soft and glossy that he could have spent hours just running his fingers through it. It could easily have made her the most stunning woman in any room, back in her days of good health. The ailment had changed that, of course. It had become brittle and sad, having long since lost its shimmer and shine to the pillows of the hospital bed. He could still remember her desolation when she’d noticed, and his own woe when he noticed that her skin had begun to fade to match her hair’s shade.

“Not quite, but she’s certainly getting there…” He muttered, his eyes darting away from the other man. He reached out his hand to the other as if to retrieve the doll from his grasp, as a way to signal that he wanted to change the subject. He was not prepared to vent about his frustrations in the middle of a fancy little girl’s boutique. Despite his signalling, though, the doll was not passed over. It stayed in his best friend’s hand as he stared down at it, a harsh frown carving its way into his face. The sight made Jin swallow hard.

“I’m sorry you’re goin’ through all of this, Jin. You and Kazuko are good people, and Kyoko too. You don’t deserve any of this crap. I wish there was more that I could do to help you.”

“Thank you, Koichi.” He murmured, no longer daring to meet his friend’s eyes. He feared they might get wet if he tried. “I truly appreciate everything you’ve been doing for us lately. I know it probably has not been the easiest thing for you, but I… I want to thank you. You have done more than enough.”

“Hey.” Koichi said, reaching a hand out to touch Jin’s shoulder supportively. “There’s no need to thank me for any of this stuff, y’know. This is the least I can do for you and Kazuko. God knows I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the two of ya. I probably would’ve poisoned my liver before the age of thirty, and then where would I be?”

In spite of the darkness of this statement, Koichi laughed. Jin did not, the thought making his fists clench a little more tightly than he would have liked to admit. A world without Koichi was unimaginable. He had been Jin’s rock for so long, after all. He didn’t know what he would have done if Koichi hadn’t been around.

“Emotional stuff aside, though, I am thinking I like the looks of this doll for little Kyo-chan.” As if to prove his point, Koichi began to turn the doll over in his hands. “She’s got sparkly manga-eyes, a cute little button nose, and a friendly smile. Kind of reminds me of Kyoko herself, honestly. The soft fabrics she’s made with will make a good cuddling companion for her at night, too. It’ll be like having a piece of Mommy and Daddy’s love while she’s with the king of the arseholes.”

It took everything in Jin’s power not to snicker at Koichi’s not so loving nickname for his father. Though Jin had surely called the man much worse things to his face, he knew it probably wasn’t acceptable to laugh. After all, lately he and his father had been trying this new thing where they didn’t have a completely unhealthy father-son dynamic. Altogether it was still pretty stiff, but at least when it came to Jin’s time of need, he could see that his father was trying. His insistence on keeping Kyoko in his care while Kazuko received treatment had been proof enough of that. 

“I like the sound of that. A little piece of our love until we can meet again.”

—

Eleven years since the day he had picked it up in the shop. Back when Kyoko was still small, back when Koichi was still around, back when Fuhito had a sliver of good left in him, back when Kazuko was still alive…It was hard to believe it had been that long. Still, when each thought entered his mind… well, it stung in him in ways he couldn’t describe. It was hard to even stare at that plump raven-haired doll, her being still completely untouched by age. Even in the face of Kyoko’s forced abandonment, and the world’s greatest tragedy, she still held the same charm she’d displayed when Jin had first laid eyes on her. If he hadn’t known any better, he would not have believed that time had even passed at all. 

If it hadn’t been for the change in his daughter, perhaps he would not have even known that any time had passed. Such a cute young girl had long since blossomed in to a beautiful young woman, who each and every day grew to look more and more like her mother. Long gone was Kyoko’s pudgy and childish build, replaced instead by the stalky figure of a dazzling woman. Her hair, once tied in to twin braids she wore on each side, had since been succeeded as well. In their place, there flowed a waterfall of shiny silvery lavender that drew the gaze of everyone she passed. Where her features had once been soft, they had since grown sharper and more elegant— high cheekbones, striking eyes, and a refined nose… a combination that brought surprise to her father every time he so much as glanced at her. She was the near spitting image of Kazuko, her mother’s grace and charm oozing through every pore of her skin. The first time he had seen her, he had to fight off the urge to burst in to tears at seeing how much she had grown. Oh, how he had missed his beloved Kyoko in the years that they had been apart. 

Well, perhaps it wasn’t even to say “in the years they’d been apart”. Now she was so near to him, and yet still no closer than she had been before. In her arrival at Hope’s Peak, he had hoped that maybe this was her way of giving him yet another chance. That maybe she had missed him as much as he missed her. Deep within his heart, his strongest hope had been that perhaps she would want them to be a family again. Perhaps even though things had been so terrible for so long, that she might find it in her broken heart to forgive him for what he had been forced to do. That had been his strongest hope when he’d come to face her again, one that had been forcefully crushed the first time she had entered his office.

“I wish not for you to be mistaken as to why I chose to come here. I want to be forthcoming with you… I want you to know that you are no father of mine, and I am no daughter of yours. No blood is thick enough to keep me bound to you, and so I sever my ties with you. I am no longer a subject of pity.”

Those were the words she had spoken, her voice powerful and stern as she stared him down from the other side of his desk. They alone had shot regret through his veins, making him wish that he were less of a coward. If only he had been able to stand up to his father, he thought, choking out a dismissive: “As you wish, Kirigiri-san.” 

She had seemed satisfied with that answer when he’d given it to her, back in the earlier days of the academy. Back when life had been normal.

It had been quite some time since those days. Practically a year, almost. They were just freshly in to the month of October, hitting their sixth day. Kyoko’s eighteenth birthday, or at least, what remained of it.

“Eighteen, huh…” Jin muttered to himself, squeezing the tummy of the plush doll as if he were expecting her to let out a giggle. Once upon a time, she might have, but her voice box had died out long ago. Now, she was silent. Just as silent as Kyoko. “It seems like only yesterday she was so small, and now… she’s the most magnificent young woman. I hope that she doesn’t mind a birthday present that’s several years late.”

Shutting his eyes, Jin placed the plush girl back in to the gift box and willed himself not to think too much about it. If he allowed his mind to be plagued by doubts, he would surely back away from doing what he needed to do. So instead of drowning in his own thoughts, he placed the lid back on to the box and sighed. It would take only a minute or two for him to present the gift to her anyway, so there was no need for him to lose his grasp on control. The doll was just a doll, just a present for the little girl he loved so much. The little girl he loved, who didn’t love him.

His beloved Kyoko.

Deep breaths now.

This is what he told himself, pushing himself to his feet and taking the box in to his hands. It was really all he could to combat his nerves as he made his way towards the student dorms, hoping that nobody else would be out at this hour of the night. It would be much easier to deliver his gift to her if they were away from the prying eyes and energy of the other students. To have that kind of space would make it much simpler for him to connect with her, just as he had wanted to do all of these years. 

As luck would have it, when he entered the dormitory hallway, there was not a student in sight. Predictably, most had either retired to their rooms for the night or found solace in other rooms of the school. At the very least, Jin knew for certain that he would be able to find Kyoko here. While she was one to leave her room during the later hours of the night, she tended to quite enjoy having a little bit of special alone time sometime after supper. And since the Ultimate Swimmer and Ultimate Lucky Student had been dragging her around all day, trying to give her what they referred to as “the best birthday possible”, he was sure that the second she could slip away from them she probably would. As much as she loved their company and seemed to appreciate all they were attempting to do for her, he could tell that all of that attention had become very overwhelming quite quickly. It seemed only logical that so much love and affection would warrant her desire of just a smidge of alone time. 

With each and every step Jin took toward her dormitory’s door, he felt his heart beat faster. It was so harsh and loud that he could hear it in his ears, causing his hands to tremble with nerves. To drop dead of a heart attack during the middle of an apocalypse was not exactly ideal, especially while doing something as simple as dropping off a birthday gift for his teenage daughter. It was such a simple task, and yet he had to will himself to be strong as he reached out his hand and pushed gently on her doorbell. As embarrassing as it was to admit, the chiming sound of her doorbell had actually made him jump a bit as it played its melody. He supposed that went to show just how uneasy this truly was making him. He tried not to dwell on it as the door swung open to reveal Kyoko, still looking as much like her late mother as ever.

“Headmaster Kirigiri.” She muttered, her face lacking any sort of emotion for about twenty seconds before her eyes fell down on to the party box. He could tell at which exact moment that her brain had made the connection between the colourful container and the date, for it put a frown on her face. 

“Kirigi— Kyoko.” He began, not hesitating to correct himself despite knowing how much she detested him calling her by her first name. “If my memory serves me correctly, about a year or so ago you told me that you no longer wanted to be a child of pity… You told me that you no longer wanted to be my child, and instead wanted to sever all ties with me.”

“That is correct.” The lavender-haired girl replied, pursing her lips together as if to ask him what about that statement was not comprehensible to him. He couldn’t help but notice that she had folded her arms across her chest, as if to close herself off to him.

“And while I can accept your desires and your wishes… I intend not to cease being your father. No matter what happens between us, no matter how much you detest me… You will always be my child, and so I shall…” The words were beginning to get caught in his throat now, the sheer emotion of them causing him to pause. It was so hard for him to say to her, knowing that they would change nothing and likely mean nothing. They held no weight for her, and still, there was nothing more that he wanted than to be able to say them. “And so I shall always love you. No matter what, no conditions, no strings attached. I have no right to explain myself to you, nor do I have the right to beg for your forgiveness, I just… I want you, at the very least, to know that I care about you… whether you have me as your father or not. So that is why I’ve come here today.”

Jin began to feel as if his heart was skipping beats as he scrutinized the details of her face, her harsh scowl slowly turning in to raised eyebrows and a mouth that was agape with slight shock. If his eyesight had not been failing him a bit in his age, he wondered if perhaps her eyes had begun to get glassy. 

“Today, eighteen years ago, was the best day of my life… and it was the first day of yours.” He continued, shutting his eyes. He couldn’t bear to look at that expression on her face for one more minute, feeling his soul scream at the sight of her experiencing the type of love she’d been missing for so many years. “For eleven years, I’ve been waiting to give you this birthday gift. I apologize for having waited so long, but I assumed it would be best that I try and find the right time. So… here it is.”

Gingerly, Jin extended his arms so Kyoko could take the box from his hands if she so desired it. He tried not to look too eager as he did so, not wanting her to know of the disappointment he would feel should she choose not to accept it. Instead, he pushed a soft smile at her and simply waited. 

For a few minutes, Kyoko seemed unable to do anything but just stand there, completely dumbfounded. Her gemstone-coloured eyes bounced back and forth between her father and the box, causing Jin to wonder if she was even capable of drawing a connection between the two. Maybe the trauma of Fuhito’s parenting style had fried her brain in more ways than he had originally anticipated. That alone was a scary thought to behold, but it was one he opted to suppress as he waited for his daughter to finally make her move. 

And when she did it, it was something that shocked him more than she could ever know. 

The box left his hands and soon found a spot, safely placed on the floor. He had expected her to move to open it with excitement and wonder, but instead, he bore witness to something far better. Rather than tearing in to the gift with all of the thrill of a small child, Kyoko instead flung her arms around her father and gave him the warmest hug he’d received in a long time.

“I hate you… you know that?” She growled, but from the way her voice shook he could tell that she was speaking out of hurt from a different place. He could feel the tiny gasps as they coursed through her torso, the tiny sobs that she was trying so hard to silence. Putting his hand on the back of her head, he encouraged her to rest her head in to his shoulder. She did so willingly, although she appeared a bit embarrassed to be staining his suit jacket with her salty tears. “You are… I am… I hate you.”

Softly, Jin petted her hair and hushed her in to his shoulder. 

“It’s alright, Kyoko…”

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…” The girl chanted, sniffling hard as she continued to bury her face in her father’s shoulder. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.”

“Happy birthday.” 

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I…”

Now it was Kyoko’s turn to choke up as she clung to her father, her legs slowly giving out as she tried to process all of the emotions that she was feeling. Her sobs began to escape more easily now as she hung off of Jin, her whole body trembling in his arms. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart… Daddy’s got you.”

He hadn’t thought about consoling her with those words. It was instinctive almost, the way they just slipped out. They must have paired well with the stroking of her hair and the patting of her back as she cried, so much so that they caused her to cease her chanting and instead made her break in to loud, hiccuping sobs. Though she tried, she wasn’t able to produce any audible words or phrases as she wailed. All she could do was simply sink to her knees with her father following carefully alongside her, and cry like she hadn’t been allowed to in eleven years.

“Happy birthday, Kyoko.” Jin whispered. “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that was my contribution to Kyoko's birthday this year! Happy birthday to my personal best Danganronpa girl! 
> 
> Hope I didn't tug on everyone's heart strings too much. As always, thanks so much for your attention and support and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this little one-shot of mine!


End file.
